Illinois Bankruptcy Lawyer On How To Contact The Chapter 7 Trustee

If everything goes well with your Chapter 7 case you are not going to have to communicate with the Chapter 7 trustee, except for the one time that you appear before him or her, which is at your 341 meeting of creditors.  That trustee is going to swear you in under oath, raise your right hand, ask you a series of yes/no questions based upon the documents that you filed with the court, which is your petition and your schedules. 

The trustee is going to ask if you signed the documents.  Did you list all your assets?  Did you list all your liabilities?  Did you list all the people that you owe money to?  Did you list where you lived in the last two years?  Did you list where you’re working?  The trustee just wants to make sure that the information contained in your schedules is true and accurate.  The meeting in front of the trustee can last anywhere from two to ten minutes, depending on the complexity of your case.  You don’t have to worry though.  Your attorney will be with you at that meeting, sitting right by your side, and he will have already explained to you the procedure and the questions and the answers that you’re likely going to give and hear from the trustee.           

Now if things do not go perfect at your meeting that usually means one of two things.  The trustee wants further information on some of the answers that you gave.  For example, the trustee might want proof of a certain medical expense if it’s excessive, or the trustee might want to look into the fair market value of your house or of your car to determine whether or not there’s any nonexempt equity that he or she can use to sell and pay creditors a pro rata share.  Don’t be alarmed if the trustee concludes the meeting, but yet wants additional information.  This is a common thing to see.  Ninety-nine percent of the time the trustee will receive the follow-up information and then close the case making a finding of no assets. 

The only time we’ve had a problem in front of trustees is when the information provided is either not truthful or misleading or, worse, omitted.  An example would be of someone who owns land in Wisconsin worth $50,000.00, vacant land, and they decided that they didn’t have to disclose it on the schedules.  Well, when the meeting came in front of the trustee and the client raised their right hand and swore to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, they decided to disclose what they should have disclosed from the start, the parcel of real estate in Wisconsin worth $50,000.00.  In that case, the trustee is going to look into selling that parcel of real estate, paying the creditors of the debtor a pro rata share, or the debtor might have an opportunity through family or friends or someone to buy out the trustee’s interest so that the debtor can keep that parcel of land, but he’s going to have to pay the trustee his share. 

So basically, you’re not going to have a lot of communication with the Chapter 7 panel trustee.  You’re probably not going to even remember the person’s name ten minutes after you walk out of the meeting of creditors.  

I as your attorney have practiced for nearly 20 years.  I have appeared before most of these trustees that appear in Chapter 7 cases.  There are some new trustees in the last several months due to the increase in bankruptcy filings.  Keep in mind that we have a good relationship with the majority of the trustees that sit for these cases.  They know our work.  They know we do quality work.  They know we’re honest.  They know we’re fair and they know we represent the debtor zealously.  This will give you a great advantage when you appear in front of the trustee with us, in that the trustee knows our work, knows our character, knows our quality, and knows that we do a great job for our clients. 

Further, we do not try and pull any punches with the trustee.  We do not try to get around anything.  We lay it out in simple terms under the law, under oath, and we do it honestly and ethically.  Any other attorney that does it any other way you should avoid, because there’s nothing more important than your character and your integrity, especially when you’re practicing law.